Its never what it seems
by LadyMacaroon
Summary: A challenge response to myself. AF have gone to Northumberland for various reasons, and something is very off about this. WARNING: Story is very, very gnarly and not for the faint hearted. But anyway, R/R and please enjoy! Reviews and improvements are appreciated.


Alex stretched out in his hard-backed wooden seat. It was last period geography class, and they were covering the Jurassic and Carboniferous period, and it was _heinously_ boring. Alex caught Li's eye, both of them sharing the same expression: the classic 'help, get me outta here' expression. Their desks creaked; Li's slight frame could barely see over the giant pile of papers meticulously stacked on hers. She looked out of the window at the dismal grey lake, wishing that school was over. Her vision shifted, and she felt herself being pulled into a daydream.

Li had somehow persuaded her parents to let her enrol at Alex's school instead of going to the swanky private academy in Edinburgh. Her zoologist parents were working for the Northumberland Wildlife Trust, researching about the arctic skua, a bird native to Northern England.

Li frowned, picking up her blue pen. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the teacher eyeing her, like he wanted her dead. A shiver crept up her spine. She had seen this look before, from someone who indeed tried to kill her. She began to scrawl down the answers to her worksheet in her neat, small script. She saw Alex drumming his pen on the desk, deep in thought. As she wrote quickly, she felt a buzz in the pocket of her tartan skirt. Casting a cautious gaze around the room, she silently slid out her phone, hoping she wouldn't be caught. Flipping it open, she saw that there was a text message from Hex.

Really, she thought. Can Hex send a text on a worse time? That boy.

_Hey _

_I need to stay with you guys. London not safe. Talk station. NOW. Please. This is very urgent. _

_H_

"Li Cheong! Put away your phone right now!" Mr Allen scolded sternly, pulling Li out of her reverie. He held out his hand for the phone, cold blue eyes staring unfeelingly. Alex squirmed around in his seat, looking at the commotion. Heads turned to look at Li. Her cheeks burning red with humiliation, she handed over her phone.

"Ah. A text from somebody." said Mr. Allen mockingly, reading the message out loud. Alex heard every word, and began to stuff his books into his bag. He sent Li a hand signal: GO! She responded in an instant.

"Sorry! Family Emergency!" Li snatched her bag and began running despite the weak excuse, slinging her bright red backpack over her shoulder. The teacher's face darkened as Alex and Li simultaneously leapt out of their seats and rushed off, looking feverishly for an exit. His narrowed eyes stared malevolently at Li. His face was shrouded in anger. He looked feral, as he sprang off his chair quick as a cat, dropping the phone onto the ground where it lay forgotten. This was odd. Why was he so angry? Li was confused. I'm only leaving. The last time someone did that in another class, the teacher hadn't blinked. He just kept on looking for a new couch on eBay.

"WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING?!" screamed the enraged teacher, swinging a massive arm and punching her brutally in the chest, barging her into another desk, students diving out the way as her body tumbled into a row of desks causing a domino effect as school supplies scattered onto the floor like a hurricane. Reeling, Li saw no way out, except for retaliating with brute force, as the teacher was now blocking the doorway. She did not know she had bitten more than she could chew. Act first, answer questions later, was her life motto.

"The window!" yelled Alex. He knew, but Li did not, that the teacher was a third dan karate black belt, as well as an undefeated Thai kickboxing champion. As she leapt across the desks, she pivoted on her toe expertly, slamming a brutal kick into the teacher's kidneys, hoping to get him out of the way before he caused any serious damage. He did not flinch; absorbing the blows, grabbed her long black hair as she spiralled away with the agility of a trained athlete. He yanked harshly, but not before Li's foot slashed out in a powerful high kick. It was enough for him to let go of her for a second. Taking advantage of his momentary weakness, Li sprang upright, as Mr. Allen's fist connected with her nose. She saw stars as she sprinted out of harms way, flying out of the sixth story window, Alex close behind. The last thing she saw before she hurled herself out was Mr. Allen screaming with rage. In the split second before she fell, she saw a tattoo on his forearm where his shirt ripped: USHER FOR GOVERNMENT.

"The lake!" screamed Alex, angling his body so that he would fall into the murky depths, hurling his backpack off his back. The lake would cushion his fall. Even though it would still be a very hard fall, he knew it was better than hitting the ground, or the large tree that was outside the window. Besides it couldn't be too bad. Sixth formers did it all the time.

* * *

><p>Alex hit the lake hard on. He glided to the surface, as he scanned the lake desperately for Li. He saw a small figure behind him, with long tangled black hair that had slipped out of its elastic. He powered up to her, grabbing her hand, hauling her out strongly. They sprinted towards the front gates, only detouring to get Alex's bike. As Alex hopped onto his bicycle, Li jumped onto the backseat. Alex's long legs began pedalling, and Li leapt off yet again to open the gates. Whilst the harsh Northumbrian winds whipped her soaking black hair, something clicked in her mind. There was something wrong with Mr. Allen. She had noticed something off before, but what kind of teacher would beat up a student for running out? A detention was what was expected. This wasn't the Middle Ages, for Christ's sake.<p>

"Hey Alex? How long has Mr. Allen been teaching at your school?" inquired Li, as Alex pedalled down the winding roads.

"Hm? Oh, about a month before you arrived, why?" replied Alex energetically, legs pedalling and breathing hard. Though he chatted to Li, his mind was really about the text message.

"Ohh... _damn_. I left my phone." moaned Li, slapping her forehead in angst. She had forgotten her mobile phone.

"Look there's the station." mumbled Alex, slowing down.

* * *

><p>Melvin 'Hex' Brown stood apprehensively at the station, a black duffel bag at his feet. He was dressed in tattered clothes, except for his hiking boots, which looked exceptionally new compared to the other garments he wore.<p>

"Attention, attention. The train to London will be leaving in 20 minutes. Repeat, the train to London will be leaving in 20 minutes." squawked the tannoy. The posh voice was so infuriating. Hex, tapped his foot, waiting; on tenterhooks.

"Hex! Hex!" screamed a small figure, flying towards him, a lanky blond boy jogging behind her, wheeling a battered bicycle. Li squashed Hex with a iron-gripped hug soaking him in the process.

"We need to talk." said Hex. His green eyes were hollow and empty, dark circles around his eyes, like he had barely had a wink of sleep and his face was chalky and pale like a ghost.

* * *

><p>"Hello Hex. Please make yourself at home." Alex's mum, Diane, unlocked the gate of the cottage, holding a basket of crisp white linen. She had grey eyes like Alex, but her hair was a startling shade of fiery red, falling down her back like a waterfall of fire. Alex led the party to the upstairs part of the cottage. He produced a key from a box, and unlocked one of the small bedrooms. It had whitewashed walls, with a neat hand-made quilt draped upon the oak wood bed. There was a chest of drawers as well as a power outlet, along with a table that contained a bowl of heavenly smelling flowers. Hex immediately began charging his palmtop, before unpacking his small bag. What he put in the drawers were meagre; even then more than half of the clothing was in tatters.<p>

Li had been shown into the next bedroom; she OKed it with her parents after she said that it was dangerous to stay home alone after dark. She had an identical room, except for the fact that there was a soft rug and the walls were papered with flowers.

As the trio walked down the corridor, Li caught a brief glimpse of a pink wall papered bedroom. What for? There were no girls in the Sanders family. She opened her mouth to enquire, but Alex shut the door firmly with a slight shake of his head. In the glimpse, she saw a painting of a pretty sixteen year old girl. She had blue grey eyes and her long braided blond hair was hanging out of her grey beret. She wore a army jacket. Although she did not smile her eyes sparkled with happiness and pride. A SAS pin was attached to her jacket, which was also adorned with a handful of badges.

The three met up in Alex's bedroom, which was a tiny bit bigger than theirs, but with mahogany furniture, and blue walls. Alex opened his small wardrobe and began pulling out some clothes and handing them to Hex. Hex was a few inches shorter, but the clothes could do for now.

* * *

><p>"OK, this is what happened. Well, dad has always been a druggie, and he contracted AIDS a few years ago. My mum went mental; she has been a heavy alcoholic for many years. He's six feet under. She went distraught, and well. Short to say that she got arrested for vandalism, and she is now in rehab. The thing is," Hex clasped and unclasped his hands. "She ran away from the mental hospital, and there is now a headhunt for her. My kid brother is currently at my nan's. She doesn't like me, so she told me to scram. So I hacked into my parents savings account, and took out fifty pounds. I texted Alex, just as I was being booted out of my flat. All the clothes I have now were bought from bargain bins and secondhand sellers. I used my last five pounds for the train ticket. I don't want to waste too much money. There is only another two thousand and fifty eight left, and I must make that last three years. I did get a paycheck though. I worked from ten to five in a McDonalds place downtown. Five quid an hour. Thirty five a day." Hex paused in his story, unconsciously fingering Alex's threadbare pillow.<p>

"So I have been living on the streets for months; taking refuge in sheds. The government took my flat away, and threatened to take me into care. So I scarpered when I could. I stayed at my friends' house for two nights, before his mum found out and kicked my arse onto the streets. So thats what happened there. My nan doesn't let me contact with Benny anymore. She says I'm a bad influence." Hex stared down at his hands. Li felt sad. Hex's life was so secretive; but now they knew why: Hex was homeless.

"Don't you worry, mate. You can stay at my place anytime. Dad's always doing SAS business, and mum says friends liven up the place. Gives her something to think about, since my older sister Jane died a month ago." said Alex reassuringly, though his grey eyes clouded with sadness at the memory of his lost sister. On his bedside cabinet was a framed picture of himself and his sister, outside. They looked young, still in primary school, climbing all over the family tractor. The girl looked about ten, her short blond hair in pigtails. She had a boy on her hip; he looked about five. That was Alex. They both had red cheeks, and their eyes were gleaming with fun and mischief. The girl was easily recgonised; it was easy to tell she was the girl in the painting.

"You had, a sister?" asked Li, her hands on her mouth in shock. She never knew that Alex had a sister, though she saw the girl in the painting. She assumed it was a relative.

"Yeah. She died from a suicide attempt. Some bloke sent death threats to the family. They wanted her for a ransom on the SRR, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment. So she went over to them, to stop them from hurting us. They found that she was in SAS training, and just qualified. She had a gun, but they used it against her. They tortured her, until she drank bleach to end her misery. It was because she knew something, about dam building project in India, Goliath Enterprises... She and her team were going to go there and stop it, but there was a mole in her team, causing her suicide. I know it sounds weak, but she couldn't take the torture. She was so strong." said Alex. Suddenly, all the puzzle pieces were put together.

"Wait. Daniel Usher operation, right? Amber told us." mused Li, eyes narrowed in concentration. She suddenly had a thought, but she dismissed it straight away. It was NOT possible that Daniel Usher was Mr. Allen. She only put the pieces together after he had . She voiced that thought aloud, but was greeted with eye rolling from Alex. Hex began keying on his palmtop. She did not know that she had hit the nail on the head.

"What is Mr. Allen's full name?" demanded Hex, as he began opening files and downloading his hacking programs from the large multi-use server that he stored them on.

"Umm... I think its Robert D. Allen." recollected Alex.

"AHA!" cried Hex, banging the table with his palm.

"Well? You know he had a 'usher for government' tat, right?" asked Li, hands on her hips in an Amber-style way. As Hex opened his mouth, the phone began to ring.

"Ah. Hello? Yes, Sanders household. Amber Middleton? Oh yes. Right. You should have said sooner. Okay. Sure. Bye Amber." Alex took the call, flicking his phone shut.

"Was that Amber?" asked Li blatantly, even though she heard him say 'goodbye Amber'. Alex nodded, winking at Hex, who promptly turned red.

* * *

><p>A knock on the door startled them. It was three sharp jaunty raps. Amber's knock.<p>

"Speak of the devil!" shouted Li, hugging Amber, nearly making her drop her black fancy suitcase on top of Hex.

"Well? My uncle nearly made me spend this holiday with Chrissie. She is the school twit, she is always abusing her riches, as well as being a huge show off and is just disgusting. So I went to see my friend Annie in Paris. After she ditched me on the streets... Well, I took the Eurostar into London, checked in at the hotel and took my bags to Alex's place. Don't worry, I OKed it with Diane already. Your mom's nice." Amber dumped her bags on the floor and sprawled out on Alex's bed, fingering the light blue quilt. As Li filled her in, her eyes grew wider by the second.

"What? Code boy, you never spoke of this before! How could you keep that bottled up?" sobbed Amber, tears flowing down her cheeks. To have both parents dead was bad enough, but to have one dead and the other one mentally insane was worse. Hex awkwardly hugged her, as she cried into his shoulder. Hex secretly enjoyed having Amber slumped onto him, though he would never have said. Amber also liked it; his strong arms made her feel safe like when her parents were alive.

"Waiiit. You said your dad was a druggie? And you say there is something wrong with the teacher. He punched you, unprovoked. Is your teacher that bald dude with the tattoos all over his arms?" inquired Amber.

"Hmmm... It was the-"

"Usher for Government?" Amber cut in smoothly, effectively shutting Li up.

"How did you know?" asked Alex, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, Roseanne went to the pubs a week ago, and pointed out that guy. She said that he was hitting on her and trying to give her some weed or coke or something. She whacked him one, but he ended up nearly raping her." explained Amber, grimacing. "He said his name was Robby Dan Allen. What a sicko."

"What was Roseanne doing in the pub?" asked Li questioningly.

"Ah, she was supposed to come with me, and she managed to follow me to England somehow. We met, and she is staying in a hotel now. She was a bit shaken but she's fine now." replied Amber smoothly.

"Wait. Robby Dan Allen is the nickname that adults call the crazy teacher." muttered Hex, as he banged the keys loudly. A soft knock on the door made them jump. The door opened.

"Umm, Alex? Some hot South American guy is outside. Gosh, I know I shouldn't describe a boy as 'hot' but seriously, he is about as handsome as Enrique Iglesias. He says he is looking for you. And, I brought some snacks; if you want anything else just grab it from the fridge. I'm going down to the shops for a bit. Alex, text me every half an hour, ok?" They looked at each other. 'Hot south American guy?' It could only be Paulo. Diane had a tray stacked with homemade bread, butter and lemonade, closely followed by a tall handsome Latino boy. Sure enough, it was.

"Paulo!" yelled Li, crushing him in a bear hug. Hex looked up from his palmtop, then tutted and resumed typing. Diane promptly slid out of the door, leaving the teens.

"Hey. I came here because of Hex's Facebook page. For a top secret group, Hex should really stop using his Facebook. And, Eliza, Inez and Josefina were bugging me. They tried to _shave_ me _bald_!" exclaimed Paulo, smiling as Li laughed and slammed her hand on the bedside cabinet in mirth.

"Mean bitch." muttered Amber, not knowing about the newest arrival, smoothing her perfect hair as she looked into the small mirror mounted on Alex's wardrobe.

"ME?" yelped Paulo, offended, racking his brain to see if he had done something to Amber. He hoped he did not; Amber was _really _scary sometimes.

"No, Li's geography teacher. He attacked her." replied Amber smoothly lifting her perfectly plucked eyebrow, a technique she perfected after many years of sassing/being sassed.

"OMIGOD NO HE DIDN'T!" raged Paulo, hands forming into a fist. He was very protective of the Anglo-Chinese girl, more than he cared to let on.

"Yeah. He did most certainly assault Li just because she had her phone on in class, and said there was a family emergency." snarled Alex, his usually calm face was contorted with anger.

"What do we do?" asked Paulo.

"Well. I don't know about you other people, but you want me to show ya how its done? Well, in America? Its kinda immature, but we can use it to our advantage. Use Paulo, Hex and I to get intel, while you guys distract them." said Amber rhetorically. She was met with expectant faces.

"Well," smirked Amber. "We win it by a PRANK WAR! I know it is super immature, but this could work. Like, since he thinks we are crazy professional, and a huge prank as a diversion will be the least he expected." She jumped into the air, Alex's bed springs creaking with the power of her jump. She crashed into the said person, rugby tackling him into Paulo, who toppled into Li who fell onto Hex's palmtop. Hex snatched a pillow and begun to thump them with it, whacking Li full in the face. Li retaliated, and soon there was a full blown pillow fight in the room.

"Jesus! I don't mind you having some fun, but I could hear that down in the yard." shouted Diane, looking slightly annoyed, her fiery hair camouflaged by the straw hat she was wearing, the hat tied down by a vibrant lilac ribbon.

"Sorry mum." Alex looked at his shoes shamefully. It was clear that he thought a lot of his mother's opinion.

"All right, dears." Diane exited the gates gracefully, climbing onto her bicycle.

* * *

><p>An hour later, they were all belted into Alex's dad's Range Rover. They had all donated money to the 'Prank for a perfectly understandable reason' charity (created by Amber). The bright blue wallet was heavy with coins.<p>

"You know, Amber, you could turn that wallet into a wrecking ball?" stated Alex, as Amber waved her bag about, whacking him full on the nose as he poked about for the map.

"Yeah. So, ya know any good stores that sell ladies clothes, science things and paint? And sorry about whacking you, but it was your fault. Pleeeaaase!" asked Amber, tapping on her iPhone, and swearing loudly when her face connected with the windscreen. Alex had probably broken something. Paulo sighed in frustration, leaving the car to fix whatever 'Mr. Mechanic' had done now. Soon enough, Paulo had belted himself back into the vehicle.

"Yeah. The science stuff we can get at the school shop, paint is available at the hardware store, and the clothes are in the mall." replied Alex breezily, as he shifted the clutch onto drive, and stamped the accelerator. Paulo, who was sitting in the backseat, flew out of his seat and body-slammed Alex's spot. Alex cursed and stomped onto the brakes, turning the steering wheel around manically, making the powerful tyres skid wildly. Hex was leaning onto the windows, looking very green with his eyes closed.

"Erm, Alex? Can you drive a little bit better? Hex looks like he's gonna puke." reprimanded Amber, as Alex made a dangerous hairpin turn down the cliffside road. Amber cringed, preparing to jump out of the car.

* * *

><p>After about an hour of bad driving, they finally reached the shopping centre, with a slight stop in between, as all of the five, even Alex, were severely carsick from his mental driving. The group stumbled out of the Range Rover, grumbling and trying not to be sick.<p>

"Alex? Do you even have a driver's licence?" wondered Paulo. As Alex opened his mouth sheepishly, he heard Hex interrupt.

"Wait. I was checking our impromptu dossier, and the features match Daniel Usher's. Remember the suicide from his time in prison? Well, apparently he pulled a Pirroni and did exactly what he did. He got tattoos and shaved his head." snarled Hex.

"And, he seemed to recognise me, even though it was my first day at Alex's school. He looked at me like I was, you know. Someone who had messed with him." murmured Li softly. Her chocolate brown eyes looked wary, but she was touched that Alex (the one who NEVER got a detention, or that she knew of) would pull 'juvenile' pranks on a teacher.

"Erm, Paulo. I do have a learners licence. I applied for a real one, but for some reason they turned me down." Alex scratched his head thoughtfully. The same thought crossed the others' minds: Don't you wish you knew?

"Ookaaay! We need a bottle of pink shampoo, superglue, a pack of eggs, some sulphuric acid, tweezers, latex gloves, green paint, oatmeal and sand. Also, I think we need to get code boy some clothes. You look like you're wearing a dress, Hex." announced Amber gleefully. The teacher did not know what he was in for.

* * *

><p>Two hours later, the gang emerged from the shopping centre laden with shopping bags. They piled the stuff in the boot, and groaned as Alex wedged himself into the drivers seat. He slammed his foot on the accelerator. Amber yelped and hurriedly belted herself into the seat. A car horn beeped loudly behind them. Swearing profusely with language that would have given Diane a heart attack, Alex began flooring the pedals, totally ignoring or just too busy to hear his friends grumbling in the backseat, or Paulo shouting warnings trying to help Alex. As Paulo reached forwards, Alex floored the brakes, and the South American went flying into the New Yorker. His hand caught the door handle, and he and Amber crashed unceremoniously out of the car.<p>

"Umm Alex? Look out the window." Li muttered uncertainly, as Alex cursed again and prepared to drive off.. Paulo helped Amber up, and walked up to the drivers seat. Lifting Alex out of the chair, Paulo sat down in his place. Waiting patiently, he gently nudged the accelerator and the range rover cruised comfortably down the bumpy Northumbrian roads.

"Yay. No more bad driving." muttered Hex, still looking quite green from the ten minutes of Hell from Alex's driving.

"What? I'm not that bad. You should see my nan..." Alex began telling the story animatedly, smiling as he recalled memories from his childhood.

"Yeah. It runs in the family." drawled Amber, tapping her perfectly manicured nails on the window.

* * *

><p>The next day, all five of them were huddled behind the gates of the school.<p>

"Okay. Me and Li go in together, Amber an Paulo act new, and Hex, blend in with the boys OK? We're not going to let the man associate us together. He knows me and Li, but not you lot." whispered Alex. He and Li walked into the school gates, seemingly unconcerned. After five minutes, the second group ambled into the campus, chatting nonchalantly. As a group of geeky looking boys passed Hex, he got up and strolled in with them, slipping on a pair of square frames as he edged into the crowd. But Hex's wary eye had missed the detail. He had missed the bald and tattooed man crouching behind the bushes, swearing vengeance.

"Ah. So unobservant. No worries, Dan Usher will get his revenge." smirked the teacher, swiftly vaulting over the hedge as agile as a cat.

As Alex saw the teacher coming, he opened his textbook. The teacher appeared not to notice him as he jogged by, muttering about being late.

"Stay low, Amber." Paulo hissed at Amber.

"I know what I'm doing!" she retorted. She then began to apply lipstick. A loud clanging jolted Amber out of her reverie. It was time for school.

* * *

><p>The team were now in various states of dishevelment,<p>

"Now, who can tell me when the dinosaurs lived? Mr. Sanders! Do you consider yourself to be some superior than me?" The teacher picked on Alex, even though he was listening intently.

"No, sir. The dinosaurs lived in the Carboniferous period." replied Alex politely.

"Indeed." The teacher's lip curled maliciously. The other students were surprised, but too terrified to react. Apparently the 'teacher assaulting badass Chinese girl' incident was still fresh in their minds.

"The homework, is pages 8 to 11, and a five hundred word essay covering the overview of the Carboniferous period. Mr. Sanders, stay behind." The teacher swept his hand across his table. Amber rustled her papers, sliding them into her folder attempting to stall for time.

"Waiting for the cows to fly? I said get out!" barked the teacher, slamming his giant hand onto the table. Hex hustled out, Paulo close behind. Amber jogged out of the classroom.

"I'll wait for you by the caf OK?" whispered Li, before scuttling off.

* * *

><p>Mr. Allen bolted the door behind him, flicking the latch on the window. The silence was ominous.<p>

"So. Alex Sanders found his way into my lair again. I was on to you. Right. From. The. Beginning." spat the rogue teacher. "Such a pity that dear Miss Middleton did not die. Sweet girl." He slammed a massive fist around Alex's torso, forcing him into a chair. Using zip ties, he swiftly anchored Alex to the seat, before turning towards his desk.

"What do you want?" murmured Alex. Mr. Allen turned towards him. What was in his hand nearly made Alex pass out. A thirteen-inch saw blade.

"I want answers." snarled the teacher, pacing across the room.

"I'll scream." Alex shouted defiantly. A slow, cruel smile spread over the teacher's face.

"Scream all you like, lad. I've got a sign saying that we are doing a drama in this room. So everyone will assume it is nothing. And also, I have my henchmen patrolling the area as janitors and gardeners." he whispered. He snatched Alex's straggly blond hair, before slashing at his face with the saw. A long cut appeared on Alex's face. He bit his lip, before the teacher produced a scalpel, and made several long cuts down his forearm. Blinding flashes of burning pain cascaded down his arm, as the scalpel moved slowly down the flesh. He grinned sadistically. Alex closed his eyes, refusing to give the insane man any satisfaction at all. He tasted the metallic taste of his own blood as it trickled down his pale cheek, staining his face with red tears.

"Tell me how you found out about Usher Mining Corp. Operation Cyanide." hissed the crazy man. He stabbed Alex with the scalpel again, grinning manically when he saw the boy stiffen with pain.

"I don't know anything-" Alex was cut off as the bloody knife stabbed into his leg. He arched his back instinctively.. Alex's head snapped brutally to the side as the teacher smacked him, feeling his cheekbone break.

"I'm not saying anything." Alex spat out a mouthful of dark red blood onto the teacher's polished leather shoes. Then, Mr. Allen saw red (**Pun completely unintended**). With an almighty roar, he descended down upon Alex with a flurry of kicks and punches. When he finally relented, Alex was covered in bruises and welts, panting hard, hoping he wouldn't pass out. Mr. Allen raised his saw, preparing to stab the boy. As the blade sunk into Alex's stomach, the door fell off its hinges with a humongous bang. A breathless Li sprinted into the room, followed by Paulo, who had moved into a fighting stance.

"You utter monster!" she screamed, launching herself at the teacher, vaulting over desks. Pivoting expertly, she slammed a powerful kick into his ribs. He was subsequently taken down by Paulo, who decided to use a chair as a battering ram. The teacher was gasping hard, holding his desk for support. A wave of glass shards broke the pause in battle, as Amber sailed into the room. Flicking the flecks of glass out of her black hair, she stormed up to the teacher. Her face was twisted with rage; she was so angry that she looked unrecognisable. Hex had somehow managed to tie their belts onto a tree and send her in. He would have gone himself, but she insisted that he be the backup.

"You, evil bastard!" she howled, smashing his face in with a chunk of wood. "How could you? You are so EVIL!" Amber had a rabid look in her eyes, as she ruthlessly hit him with the wood. Suddenly, he stood up, and flung her across the classroom. Now, Amber was _seriously_ pissed off. With a loud screech, she threw hard, powerful punches into his neck and face. As he grabbed her from behind, she swung her elbows into his face, hooked her leg around his and rolled forwards, using her body as a lever. She felt him stiffen beside her. She arched her back stiffly, and the others heard the unmistakeable sound of a bone breaking, as well as the sound of joints being ripped out.. Spiralling up, she straddled her hips and hooked a ebony black arm around his neck. She piled on pressure, and the insane man slumped to the ground, passed out.

"Three hours before the guy wakes up. Lets get Alex to the emergency room." Amber sailed out of the windows. Li followed next, Alex and the chair tied to her waist. Paulo came next. Li had taken pictures and now Hex was uploading them to his state of the art palmtop.

* * *

><p>"He'll live." the nurse whispered. Amber, Hex, Li and Paulo were all wearing hospital gowns; theirs were being analysed for DNA samples and whatnot. They all sported various dressings; Amber had stitches on her cheek from the glass, Li's ribs were strapped up, Hex had a bandage on his leg and Paulo had his arm in a sling. They were in a small examining room with two sofas and a bed in it. Paulo felt his Samsung buzz in his pocket. Flipping it open, he took the call.<p>

"Hello? Ah, Diane. Yes, its Paulo. What? Oh, he's OK, I guess. Damage? Thirty stitches down his forearm, eight on his right cheek and he's in theatre for a fractured rib and the stabbing. Minor? You're kidding. Of course we won't let him run off. All right. Bye." Paulo ended the call.

"Well?" asked Amber pointedly. As Paulo filled her in, an army of nurses and doctors stampeded down the hallway, a porter pushing a gurney. Alex looked worse for the wear; stitches, bandages and dressings all over, and the oxygen mask wasn't helping either.

"He'll be in here for about a week. By the way, my name's Sarah Lester. Just dial 135 on the phone if you need anything." The nurse sent a flirty smile in Paulo's direction. He nodded curtly; his affections were for Li only. The patter of footsteps clattered down the polished white floor.

"Ah. The patient's friends." the Doctor hurried off, acknowledging their presence with a nod.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm staying here tonight. We're NOT going to school. Alex today, one of us tomorrow." sighed Amber, cuddling up to Hex and closing her eyes. Paulo shuffled over to make room for Li. Amber's sleeping form was slumped onto Hex's shoulder. As Li and Paulo drifted off, Hex was unconsciously stroking Amber's hair, hugging her closer to him. Nurse Sarah Lester smiled at the sight guiltily, and heaped a blanket onto each of their bodies.

* * *

><p>"Wake up." Hex shook everyone awake. Amber was surprised to find a blanket on her lap. With a yawn, she stepped off the couch. She saw that there were four piles of clothes and four toothbrush sets on top of the clothes. Paulo and Li had changed into their clothes; Paulo wearing a white polo shirt with jeans, Li in a strappy black tank top and white jeans. Hex was dressed in a baggy green t-shirt, and even more to his disgust, blue sweatpants. Amber pulled on her outfit: white halter top and pink skinny jeans.<p>

"Hello? You can see Mr. Sanders now. By the way, what do you think about the clothes? Sorry Hex, but they didn't have anything else your size." Sarah poked her head into the room. Alpha Force all but sprinted down the polished hallway and screeched to a grinding halt in front of Alex's room. Sarah opened the door. All four fought to be the first in, and wrestled each other. The ended up tumbling in in a messed up heap. Amber stood up, laughing but suddenly stopped. There were tears in her eyes as she looked at the pitiful heap in the bed. One of her best friends had ended up this way.

"Alex! OMG are you all right? We were so worried about you, Diane was all over the place but she said that she was used to casualties like this, I can't believe that Daniel Usher found us and assaulted you this way. We spent the night here, and I thought about sneaking in at night but Sarah would kick me out..." spluttered Li, trying to hug Alex. The said boy smiled at his friend's antics as Li rambled on.

"I'm fine, Li. I'm alive. I would be devastated if it was you." croaked Alex behind the hiss of the oxygen mask and the beeping of the machines.

"Hey, hey, hey. Li don't hog the guy!" Paulo's giant form shadowed Li. She smiled and put her hand around his waist, motioning that Amber might like to talk to him as well.

"Hi. You'll be outta here soon." drawled Amber, Hex stroking her hair unconsciously, making a small smile appear on Alex's tired face.

* * *

><p>Nurse Lester closed the door, smiling to herself. She shrugged out of her nurse's outfit and revealed a hot pink strapless dress underneath. She stepped out of the hospital, walking briskly, smoothing her hair as she moved. Sarah stopped outside a Starbucks and stepped into the air conditioned cafe. Flipping open her mobile, she dialled the first contact: D.<p>

"Sarah, you'll find the drugs and the cash underneath the sofa cushion in the corner. Delete this number. D." A soft tone rang through the phone. Sarah lifted the sofa cushion and found the drugs and the cash.

"Forty grand." she grinned, pocketing the roll of bills guiltily. She did not want to do that, but she badly needed the money as a single mum with three kids in her mid twenties.

* * *

><p>Blissfully unaware that his fate was being decided, Alex was chatting to the other members of the group. A knock on the door startled them. Sarah stepped in, holding a syringe. Wordlessly, she stabbed it into the tube that connected to Alex. Ushering them out, Sarah slammed the door, pocketing the key. As she hurried down the hallway, a piece of paper fell out of her pocket, fluttering by Li's foot.<p>

"Well that was odd." Paulo remarked, as Li bent down to pick up the shred of paper.

"Digitalis. 10ml pure." Li read out, horrified.

"Oh my God." Amber's eyes widened and she dropped her cell phone on the ground in shock, shattering into a dozen pieces.

"What?" mumbled Paulo in confusion. He clearly had no idea what digitalis was. Clearly they did not teach chemistry at whatever school he went to. Or he was far too busy flirting with the girls who were all competing to become Mrs. Paulo.

"Digitalis is a digoxin. It shuts down the nervous system. It kills very quickly, depending on the dosage." Hex said ominously. The corridor grew so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

* * *

><p>"Digitalis?" mused Doctor Sparrow.<p>

" 10ml." sobbed Li. She was terrified. He had already been tortured and beaten; now this?

"How much?" asked the doctor, snapping on a pair of latex gloves. They ran down the corridor. Dr. Sparrow tried the door. Locked. Li lashed out fiercely with her foot, knocking the door off its hinges. The doctor hurried in.

"Oh Lord. He's breathing, but subtly." mumbled the man, keying into his PDA.

"No pulse anymore." Nurse Lester said.

"Oh Jesus." snarled Amber, her hand gripping Hex's like a vice. She wanted to kill Sarah, but did not want to be jailed for murder charges. Anyway, there was no hope she would get bail; she wasn't British.

"We need backup immediately! I repeat, we need to revive him before he's gone for good! We need backup!" demanded Dr. Sparrow, shouting into his pager. A battalion of doctors and nurses stormed down the corridor, waving some sort of electrical device. They hustled into the room, attaching Alex onto the machine.

"Get the defibrillator ready, and another one of the meds in the pink box." Dr. Sparrow instructed.

"Charging! 250 joules. Clear!" shouted a nurse, punching a button.

"300 joules. Clear!" he shouted again. Alex's body jerked with the force of the electricity.

"350 joules! Clear!" yelled a nurse.

"400! Not working! Try once more!" cried the doctor, slamming his hands on the button.

"I'm afraid..." he whispered softly, looking at the unmoving body sprawled across the bed, the machines making no sound as the heart rate monitor went down to zero.

"He's gone!" howled Amber, falling to her knees in anguish. She, Hex and Alex had a strong bond with each other, they had saved each others lives countlessly, like Paulo did with Li, as Paulo and Li were meant for each other.

* * *

><p>Their night was spent in wordless vigil, slumped in defeat against the corridor wall, and Hex keying on his palmtop. Footsteps tapped across the corridor hurriedly.<p>

"Paulo! Amber! Li! Hex!" Dr. Sparrow's deep voice echoed the empty corridor.

"What is it, doc?" replied Paulo, a tear trickling out of the corner of his eye. He made no attempt to hide it.

"I have good news! He's alive! We just missed his pulse. Or more accurately, the wires were cut." whispered the doctor grimly, polishing his spectacles on the edge of his lab coat, whipping out a set of cut wires from his pocket. They were packaged in an evidence bag.

"Who did it?" asked Li, knowing the answer already.

"Sarah Jane Lester. We found a pair of wire clippers next to her locker, as well as her prints on the wire. There is no doubt she cut the wires." said the doctor. The stunned silence was broken by sobbing down the corridor.

"Oh my god! Is he alive? I heard about the digitalis..." Diane Sanders sobbed, sinking onto the floor in fear.

"Hello. I'm terribly sorry about my wife; she can be a little crazy sometimes. My name's Richard by the way." Alex's father shook each each of their hands solemnly. He looked the exact picture of Alex. Just more muscular and with a bit more height. He had the eyes of someone who had seen too much, like them. He looked broken emotionally. First, the SAS and now his son was on the brink of death in a hospital room.

"He's alive." The two words that fell from Paulo's lips changed the entire mood.

"He's alive? I thought he died!" exclaimed Diane.

"How did this happen to my son?" asked Richard.

"Murder." The word was like a bomb. Rich stiffened, Diane started crying again, and Dr. Sparrow looked shocked.

* * *

><p>"All right. Tell me everything." said Richard. He was seated on the couch in the mini lounge the gang had spent the night in. Diane was lying on the bed asleep, exhausted from her bout of crying.<p>

"All right. So I stayed with Alex because of a teacher. He assaulted me, for reading a text. That was from Hex, who had family issues. So we were both staying at your cottage. I hope you didn't mind; your wife said it was fine. Then, Amber and Paulo came along, presumably to get away from their families, and they got the message from Hex's Facebook. So we went to the mall, buying supplies to prank the teacher as a diversion, so that Hex and Amber could find out who the teacher really was. Then, he told Alex to stay back after a geography lesson, stating there was a drama reenactment on the notice board so Alex's screams wouldn't be incriminating. If there was a drama, the screaming and harsh words would be explained easily. He cut him with a knife, and used Nurse Lester to kill him with digitalis. She is now facing murder charges of first degree murder in the court now. We informed the police via email about the teacher." said Hex in a low voice.

"What? Someone tried to _kill_ my son? What did he do to them?" growled Richard angrily, fists clenched around his paper cup of coffee.

"Well, er. We kind of found that Daniel Usher killed Thomas and Jenna Middleton; Amber's parents. As well as Li's close friend Papaluk. She was an Inuit. So we tried to stop him, as he had Amber, and his mine was dumping cyanide waste into the rivers. She trekked a mile in the snow in an arctic dress. Your son and us others went against him and won. He escaped from prison and hurt your son. We think it was because he was our leader." Paulo sniffed. He was really upset, so Li put her arm around him, giving him a hug. Paulo was really a gentle giant.

"What? You went against _criminals_?! And succeeded, not once but multiple times? Wow, my son should really have gotten into the army! Whew!" Rich looked shocked, sad and proud all at the same time, his arm around Diane. She was snoring softly on the bed. Richard draped a thin blanket onto her.

"Yeah." Li's muffled voice was heard. She had her head buried in Paulo's shoulder.

"Well. I am hearing this. Just working on the believing bit." said Rich cryptically. Amber and Hex got up from their prospective seats, followed by Li and Paulo.

"We're gonna see the doctors' report." announced Amber. They filed out of the door. As Amber took a step out of the door, she heard the click of a gun, and felt the familiar cold steel on her temple.

"Don't move or the girl dies." Sarah's voice was heard.

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later, the entire team were tied to chairs. They were in a disused room behind the hospital. It was dirty and disgusting. But the scariest thing about the room was the table with an assortment of scalpels, blades and torture instruments, so gruesome that it could not be described with words.<p>

"What do you want with us?" scowled Amber, stiffening as Sarah stabbed her roughly with a thumbtack, drawing it roughly down the woman's arm(**pin, those brightly coloured knobbly thingies that you stick in a cork board. Never mind.**). **  
><strong>

"Its my job." Sarah's eyes looked sad, but icy cold. "I had a personal score to settle with Alex, but I'm getting more money. Sixty grand. I need it."

"What do you want?" asked Rich, sighing in resignation.

"A hundred thousand pounds." Her voice was trembling. "If you won't break, I'll use the bitch." Sarah spat disdainfully at Diane, who was cowering into her chair. Brandishing a scalpel, she threateningly shoved the business end of the blade into the terrified woman's face. Inwardly, Sarah felt bad, but she had to do it.

"You don't need to do this! You don't!" screamed Diane, sobbing pitifully. Sarah looked away and shoved the blade into her arm, leaving it in. Diane wailed in pain, as the cut on her face widened and blood poured down her face like a waterfall of burning red.

"No? No breaking? Lets try the next bitch then." Sarah advanced onto Amber. Amber saw only one way to escape pain: to inflict it onto Sarah. She felt bad because she knew the woman needed to, but the woman had tried to murder her best friend and maimed his mum to get a ransom. Also, she seemed to be taking sadistic pleasure in hurting her and her friends. Amber pushed all her weight onto her feet, spinning around, cracking the chair's legs upon her shins. Howling, Sarah let go of the knife, and it sailed into the wall. Amber landed on the ball of her feet, twisting like a cat and launching another attack on Sarah. The chair was now pretty much disintegrated to a giant pile of matchsticks. Sarah paled; she knew she was absolutely no match for the angry American teen. She attempted to punch Amber, but her pale hand was grabbed by the slender ebony one and twisted until it cracked. Amber delivered the knockout blow with grim strength. Sarah's phone slid into Amber's hand, and she pocketed it. Amber hopped back onto her feet, panting lightly.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I am gonna secure this woman and then lets get outta here, OK?" Amber tied the unconscious woman to the chair with a huge assortment of zip ties. Grabbing a knife, she sliced open the zip ties, before slipping Rich's iPhone out of his pocket.

"Passcode?" she asked.

"richsanders. No caps." he replied, Amber keying in the letters. She clicked onto the call app, and dialled a number.

"Hello? Yes. We have a terrorist in the hospital. We have her secured, but we still have a possibility of a higher threat. A rogue terrorist, named Robert Daniel Allen, but we found that he was Daniel Usher. Oh. All right, police will be here in...? Oh, thats quick. Thanks, bye."

Hex, Paulo and Li stood bolt upright, massaging their raw wrists from being chained to the hard wooden chairs. Paulo helped Diane out, and brought her back into the clean interior of the hospital, followed by Rich. Minutes later, a pair of uniformed officers disappeared from behind the hospital and returned with Sarah.

"1st degree murder and torture charges. You have the right not to speak, but anything you say will be recorded and used against you. You also have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you. By the way, nice job trussing her up." The policeman nodded, and led her out. Sarah glared daggers at the gang and Mr and Mrs Sanders, and used words that would have shocked any sane person.

"Wow. Rude." grimaced Paulo. They filed down into their waiting room to get dressed and changed.

* * *

><p>"Hex? Run a trace on this number. Its the only one here." Amber relayed the number for Hex to trace. She dialled.<p>

"Hello? Lester, I said don't call this." Daniel Usher's annoyed voice sounded from the other side.

"Yes, this is Emma. Where's my money?" Li put on a pseudo Geordie accent. Luckily, Usher was a tad dimwitted on the accent side of things, and swallowed the bait without so much as a question.

"In good time, in good time. Where is the boy?" Usher sounded more happy. Hex's signal had traced; he slid a finger across his throat to signal STOP. Amber immediately slammed her finger down onto the 'end call' button.

"Got him. He is hanging about the Irish pub down the road." grinned Hex, folding his arms smugly over his chest.

"Easy?" asked Paulo, as he leaned over to see the pulsing red dot that indicated that Usher's cell was nearby.

"Like taking candy from a baby." smirked Hex.

"Don't get too big headed, Code Boy, or your head won't fit through the door." interjected Amber.

"Well? What are we waiting for? Lets go and kick some ass!" shouted Li, leaping off the couch. Hex grimaced; a hyperactive Li was not good news.

"Hey, Li? How did you get such a good Geordie accent?" inquired Hex, scratching his head.

"Umm... imitating Alex behind his back?" Li smiled sheepishly as Amber roared with laughter and Paulo shook his head.

* * *

><p>Paulo slid smoothly into the driver seat of the Sanders' Range Rover, as the others piled themselves in. He stepped down on the accelerator, making the monstrous tyres kick up a sandstorm as they whooshed smoothly away down the windy Northumbrian roads.<p>

"Oi, Paulo. We passed the pub." Amber pointed out.

"Ah yes, but the impolite man would recognise this beauty, no? Such a beautiful car." he stated. Amber nodded, seeing the logic. Li dug around in the backseat before emerging with one of Diane's hats, a palette of eyeshadows, a very red lipstick and a box of pills.

"Amber will distract him, whilst you boys buy a drink and give it to Amber, spiked with about eight crushed sleeping pills. Then, we will offer it to Usher. After that, we will lead him into the car parks, and zip tie him. OK? I will take him down, but inside the pub I will be disguised." Li announced, whipping a pair of scissors out of her pocket. She sliced her denim jeans until they were too short, and cut the sleeves off her white top. Handing the scissors to Amber, she did the same. Amber slashed her clothes until she looked like a bad girl, using her Sharpie marker to write SASS on her crop top, so short it showed off her perfectly tanned, flat stomach. Amber ripped off the black ribbon off Diane's hat and tied it on her neck like a choker, slipping her short dark elfin bobbed hair out of its elastic and mussing it to look like she was out partying late. Li whipped out the makeup, and dusted powder blue eye shadow onto Amber's eyes, drawing a tattoo with the Sharpie. She also applied blood red lipstick to her lips, as well as a bit of mascara she happened to have in her insulin pouch.

"How do I look?" she drawled, batting her eyelashes. The boys melted instantly. She looked nineteen and sophisticated.

* * *

><p>"Hey babe." Usher smiled at her as she strolled past his table. She smiled a flirtatious smile back, showing off her toothpaste-advert teeth. Over the course of thirty minutes, she kept strolling back to Usher, occasionally letting her hand flick his stubbled beard. She was repulsed, but she knew that revenge would never have been sweeter until the bastard had caused her some real disgust. She strolled up to the bar, and began 'flirting' with Paulo. Usher's eyes narrowed at the South American lad. She looked back, hurt, and immediately grabbed the beer Paulo was about to drink (not really), and tiptoed over, holding out the drink. Usher laughed and downed it in one. She signalled to Hex, and loud, punk rock music began to blare from the speakers. She pulled Usher out of the seat and began dancing. After a minute or so, she slid her hand into his and led him out to the car park. As she grooved, she flipped her hair; a signal for the boys to arm themselves. Hex pulled on a black jacket to alter his appearance, slipping to the alleyway. She saw his eyes slipping drowsily, and took the chance to slam him into the grubby wall of the dark alley. He growled, thinking nothing of her, until a small lithe form wearing a similar attire dropped from one of the nearby windowsills. Paulo appeared from behind a dumpster, Hex crawled out from behind a building. The boys rugby tackled him, bundling him roughly into the wall. Amber slid Sarah's mobile from her back pocket.<p>

"Hello, police? We have a terrorist down at the Irish pub. It is believed that he is Daniel Usher."

* * *

><p>Two hours later, after a shower and a change of clothes, the entire team were waiting in the hospital. Though they were not in their waiting room; they each stood guard inside Alex's room. Said person was still unconscious, sleeping off the effects of digitalis. Dr. Sparrow had to put him under in a medicated coma, for a while, and was going to bring him back soon.<p>

"All right, do you mind to leave? We are going to have him awaken from his coma now. We will let you know when you can come in." Dr. Sparrow ushered them out of the room.

"Time estimation?" asked Paulo, as he moved to allow them to pass first.

"Half an hour. Ten minutes to wake him up, and twenty to get him stabilised. Waking people up can be quite distressing, what with all those tubes and wires that were shoved into you without your knowledge. Do not worry, you will be the first to know. Now, do you wish for the poor boy to wake?" replied the Doctor, eyes twinkling merrily, shooing the four out.

* * *

><p>The four traipsed out of the room, and slumped onto couches outside of Alex's accommodation. As promised, 10 minutes later, noise came from the room, but just not exactly what they had expected. A piercing scream shook through the air. Then another. The screams were so painful to hear; their hairs were standing on end. The screeches soon subsided, but instead of being relieved; the four felt a mounting worry. Anxiety consumed them; they were fighting private battles to not go running to their friend's aid.<p>

"You know," remarked Hex, trying to lighten the mood. "I thought GCSEs were nasty, but this makes them seem like a walk in the park."

"Yes, this is worse than watching a beautiful vehicle getting squashed to death." whispered Paulo. Li and Amber said nothing, just sitting in a silent vigil.

* * *

><p>Half an hour later, the familiar clicks of Dr. Sparrow's footsteps could be heard from down the hall.<p>

"Ready to see your friend?" he asked, and was met with eager nods. They all but teleported to Alex's room, fighting to be the first to get in. In the end, Paulo, Hex and Li ended up getting wedged in the door, all squished together. Luckily, they were rescued by a very disgruntled Amber and a amused Dr. Sparrow. Meanwhile, Alex was crying with laughter at his friends' predicaments; it was not that funny but for some odd reason, seeing his best friends stuck in a doorframe pricked at his slightly weird sense of humour (obviously developed from Amber and Li).

"You guys all right?" Alex fought to keep a straight face, but Hex's features were twisted in the spitting image of the internet phenomenon: The Grumpy Cat. That was accentuated by his pale features, dark rings around his eyes, piercing emerald green eyes and the characteristic frown. Alex trying to smother his giggles set everyone off again. Dr. Sparrow left the room, smiling to himself.

"Hell yeah!" yelled Li, her face red from the laughing.

"No offence intended, but you look very messy." Paulo remarked, scrutinising Alex, who rolled his eyes. When it came to medical care Paulo was a _major _mother hen. No kidding, he was worse than Diane, Amber, Li and Alex's grandparents all rolled up into one worrying South American...

"Hey. At least I'm not the one who looks like the Grumpy Cat." Alex smirked, pointing at Hex. Hex immediately went red as everyone laughed at him. He only righted his expression when Amber produced a cameraphone and snapped a picture.

"Hey, Code Boy, I'm totally sending this to everyone I know." Amber tapped on her phone. Hex paled; you could never tell what the American was going to do next.

"Alex, I will go outside and inform your father you are awake." Paulo left, Li trailing behind. A few hushed words were heard outside the door, then Alex's father stepped in, overjoyed his son was alive.

"Oh my god! Alex!" he whispered, taking in the sight. Slowly, one by one, Alpha Force, minus the first 'A' tiptoed out of the room to give them privacy.

When Paulo stepped out, the last thing he saw was father and son embracing.

And when he saw that, he knew that all was well.

* * *

><p><strong>Jeez! Well this is my fic to my challenge haha. Its finally done! I've been working at this ish for 6 months or something, maybe more. I hope you guys like it! I'm super sorry I haven't been up here much, but whatever. <strong>

**DISCLAIMER: I don't actually own any of the characters, except Sparrow, Alex's sister (I forgot her name for some reason), his mother and father's NAMES. I don't own anything else. Hang on, I own Sarah. Cheese, I need to get my facts right.**

**Okay. Now Jeanne must stop waffling. Bad. **

**-Jeanne**


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